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I am currently reading a book where someone is supposed to have committed suicide with a shotgun and the post-mortem said death was due to a bullet wound.

Um, surely death by shotgun would have blown someone’s head off? I can’t see how someone could place a shotgun to their owm head and pull the trigger. I think it is possible to get bullets for shotguns, but you need a firearms certificate for those, and I only knew that after doing a bit of research as I wasn’t aware that there WERE bullets for shotguns no matter that they would be hard to get hold of.

Also in the UK don’t you need a shotgun certificate before buying a gun?

Of course criminals and the like wouldn’t worry about rules and regulations.

When I was a kid there was a local farmer with a good portion of his face missing-he’s tried to kill himself after the death of his wife, using a shotgun. so it doesnt necessarily blow their head off. Kurt Cobain also used a shotgun-so it can also be successful! can’t answer the rest of your questions though.

Bullets for shotguns? Different gauges of cartridges yes – and a shotgun can do a lot of damage or not a lot, depending on a lot of things. Sadly there is a high suicide rate among farmers, and it is often the method of choice. I think your author is mistaken, but someone else may know different!

Have a look at where the author isn’t from, I’ve found a shocking lack of research from authors in general but perticularly for the US authors who seem to assume everything is like wherever they are from.
I once read a story about kids in a UK school and it was almost unreadable, with all the “home room” sessions, cheerleading squads, GPA’s and other things that you just don’t see in UK schools

You can get solid shotgun slugs. But you would need a shot gun certificate to hold the gun and purchase the ammunition.
Some shotguns have a very light trigger I know me dads skeet gun does and you can actually trigger both barrels at once if you’re a bit heavy handed.
As to the mechanics I believe often sitting in a chair, shoes off and using the toes to operate the trigger having placed the barrel in the mouth is often a favoured method. 🙁

Damage would depend on the distance, choke, bore, cartridge etc. Entry and exit wounds I have seen on animals can vary.
A close family member took their own life with a shotgun. They used a vice and a peg they had made for the purpose.

There are a lot of thefts of legally held shotguns here as guns in general are very hard to get hold of, they can be modified into sawn-offs, and they are harder to trace/link to crimes than other types of gun.